Washing and elevating apparatus



: y 2, 1939- w. E. URSCHEL 56,

WAsHI NG AND ELEVATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10, 1955 Q 5 o o ou G Q0 0 0 D 02 0 0 p o o o 1 INVENTOR. Wilda/72 (5. (6/36/26! BY ,1 I

Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WASHING AND ELEVATING APPARATUS William E. Urschel, Valparaiso, Ind.

Application January 10, 1935, Serial No. 1,101

3 Claims.

The present invention has to do with a material washing and lifting apparatus.

The primary object of the present invention is to cleanse and elevate material without the necessity for conveying such material through a pump or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a washing and elevating apparatus free from moving parts and wherein air under pressure is substituted for mechanical lifting or elevating means.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a simplified, rapidly operating, and efficient washing and elevating mechanism suitable for use in vegetable canneries and the like.

These, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, are obtained by the novel construction, unique combination, and improved arrangement of the several elements which constitute the invention, one form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of apparatus embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan View of the intermediate hopper shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section through such hopper on the line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a transverse section of such hopper taken on the line 44 of Figure 2.

30 Like reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the drawing and in the following description.

The apparatus illustrated comprises two lifting stages. A single lift may be used or more than 35 two stages of elevation as desired or required.

The apparatus illustrated is of a form suitable for installation in a canning factory, such as a pea canning establishment. A floor I0, generally the ground floor of the factory, supports a feed hopper I I. Any suitable means (not shown) may be employed for supporting hopper II of suitable size at a convenient height for manual loading.

A U-shaped conduit I2 has a short leg connected to the bottom of the hopper II for draining such hopper, and a long leg extending upwardly and terminating in a curved discharge end, the long leg of the U-shaped pipe I2 emptying into a hopper I 3 heretofore referred to as an interme diate hopper.

50 The U-shaped pipe I2 at its closed.- end extends beneath the fioor It a distance determined partly by the height of the long leg of the pipe I2, partly by air pressure which is injected into such long leg, and partly by the amount of mate- 55 rial washing to be done therein. The closed end or bottom of the conduit I2 may be disposed in an excavation provided therefor if the floor I0 is not spaced sufficiently high to accommodate such closed end.

The intermediate hopper I3 encloses or surrounds a suitable screen. Such screen may be one or more stationary elements or it may comprise a moving screen such as illustrated in the several figures of the drawing. The moving screen illustrated is designated by reference character I 10 and is of the endless belt type having apertures therethrough of suitable size. With the flights of the belt of screen I running horizontally, two screening effects are obtained therefrom in intermediate hopper I3. This belt sifts out all of 5- the smaller foreign matter, such as sand, small pebbles, and the like.

Screen I is mounted upon pulleys, rollers, or other suitable bearing members I4. The roller member M at the left of Figure 1 is suitably attached by shaft or otherwise to a gear 6 which is driven by a gear 5 upon a shaft having at its other end a pulley I. The shaft carrying gear 5 at one end and pulley 'I at the other end may be suitably journaled in brackets mounted upon the hopper I3 as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The pulley I is rotated by a belt driven by a motor 4.

Beneath the belt screen I in hopper. I3 is a frame for a removable fiat screen 3. An opening for the insertion and removal of screen 3 is provided. in the side wall of hopper I3. A material guide I5 is disposed at the right hand end of Figure 1 to guide material ejected from U-shaped pipe I2 onto the screen I, the direction of flight of the screen I being shown by the arrows in Figures 1 and 3.

There are two discharge openings in hopper I3. One, that at the left of Figure 1, is employed for material to be further washed and elevated. A U-shaped member I6 has a short leg in a draining position beneath such aperture at the bottom of hopper I3. The long leg of the member I6 extends upwardly and has a curved discharge 'end which empties into a hopper II.

A screen I8 is suitably disposed in hopper IT for the separation of solid material of a certain size or larger from solid material of a smaller size and from the liquid used to elevate the material from hopper I3 to hopper I I. A discharge spout I9 may be disposed at the base of screen I8. The hopper I1 is suitably disposed upon a floor 24, which in the present illustration is the second floor of a cannery building.

The second discharge aperture or opening in the hopper I3 has connected thereto a pipe 20.

a conduit 25 which has two branches.

The discharge pipe 2E? is superposed with respect to the discharge end of the U-shaped pipe I2 and conveys the major portion of the liquid. which is discharged from pipe I2 downwardly out of hopper I3 after it has passed through the screens I and 3 to hopper II. The frame which supports the screen 3 arrests excessive flow of the liquid discharged from pipe I2 across the hopper I3 into the pipe I6.

Hopper II has a draining aperture to which is connected a pipe 2I extending downwardly therefrom, emptying into the upper section of hopper I3 generally directly over the short leg of pipe I6 which is employed to carry material and liquid from the hopper I3 to the hopper I'I.

Material to be washed and elevated is carried from hopper II to hopper I3 and from hopper I3 by a suitable liquid. In canning operations such medium is water. The water supply is through conduit 22, which is branched, one branch 2 having a valve therein for the regulation of the flow of water therethrough. Such branch empties into hopper I3 over the flights of screen I. The position of branch 2 in Figure 1 has been found to be satisfactory, but its position may be varied according to circumstances.

The other branch from conduit 22 also has a valve therein. It empties into the hopper I. Water flows through branch 8 only for the purpose of supplying water with which to start operations. When a sufficient supply of water has accumulated in the system the valve in conduit 8 is closed but is opened again for replacing Water that is wasted or lost, provided the continuous flow of water from branch 2 is insufiicient for this purpose. The valve in branch 2 is set to take care of all waste or losses.

In addition to Water circuits there are air circuits in the system. Air under pressure is supplied by a pump 23 driven by motor 5 or by any other motor which may be suitably mounted in a convenient position. In Figure 1, motor 4 is shown depending from joists in floor 24. The air compressed by air pump 23 leaves the pump by One branch 23 discharges into pipe I2 while the other branch 21 discharges into U-shaped member I6. The branches 26 and 27 enter the conduits I2 and I6, respectively, in the long legs of such U-shaped members, and generally above the enclosed bottom of such U-shaped members.

The operation of the apparatus is substantially as follows:

Material to be washed, as for example, peas, is deposited in hopper II Water flows thereover and therethrough into the hopper I I through the branch 8. The flow of Water is out off by the valve in branch 8 at a later time, as previously indicated. The air pump 23 is put in operation by motor 5, which motor also drives the belt screen I. As water and material flow down the short leg of conduit I2 and start up the long leg thereof, the air from pump 23 admitted to the long leg of conduit I2 by conduit 25 and 2s mixes with the Water. This lightens the water or increases its bulk. It may also have an injective or pushing effect, if desired, whereby to cause a definite lift. The water, air and material flow upwardly in the long leg of member I2 and the water and material empty into the hopper I3, the material and water falling upon the screen I, and the water flowing through both flights of such screen to carry with it material of smaller cross section than the openings in the screen I. The separated material after passing through screen I is collected upon the screen 3, which screen 3 is removed from time to time.

Material which will not pass through the screen I is carried on the top flight thereof over the left hand pulley I4, Figure l. Peas drop from the screen I into the path of liquid between the short leg of U-shaped member I6 and the water which is returned from the hopper II by conduits 2|. Any material which may adhere to the screen I, such as pea hulls, is washed from the lower flight thereof by the flow of water therethrough from the pipe 2, the pipe 2 being in position to discharge its contents through the flights of the screen I at a point intermediate the pulleys I4. The pea hulls that collect upon the screen 3 are waste material and are collected on screen 3 for later removal.

The material that is emptied into the pipe I6 is carried downwardly therein and past the bottom and upwardly in the long leg thereof by the water falling from hopper II. In such long leg, air is forced from the pump 23 by conduits 25 and 21, such air lightening the Water which is mixed with the material. Such air may be admitted with an injective force if desired. The material is carried upwardly in the long leg of pipe I6 and discharged into hopper I? where the material above a selected diameter is rolled across the screen I8 and leaves the apparatus by a discharge spout I9.

Water and solid material of a diameter less than the porosity of screen I8 flows back to hopper I3 by pipe 2I to be used over and over for elevating material through the U-shaped member I6. At the beginning of operations, a suitable amount of water is supplied for the operation of the second stage member I6. Conduit 22 may be extended over for this purpose. Ordinarily the volume of water in the second stage is maintained substantially constant by the flow of water from conduits 2 and I2 which flows across the hopper I3 over the frame supporting the screen I3 and upon the screen I.

There is relatively little solid material which is to be separated by the screen I8. Such material which flows therethrough flows back to hopper I3 by pipe 2I and circulates. Screen I is efficient to separate most of the foreign substances which are emptied into the system With the peas when loaded at hopper II.

The pump 23 may be a high speed reciprocating pump or other suitable air pump. It may be of relatively small size for little air pressure is required for the lifts illustrated in Figure l. The flow of air through the conduits 25, 26 and 21 is substantially constant. The pulsations of the air pump are so close together that they are not really discernible one from another. Nevertheless such pulsations provide some agitation for the material to be washed and the liquid used in washing such material in the long legs of U- shaped members I2 and I6.

In addition to the agitation produced by the pulsations of the motor 23, there appears to be generated in each of the pipes I2 and I6 a periodic surge, which bears little or no relation whatever to the speed of operation of the pump 23. Such surge manifests itself by a backing-up of water and material into hopper II followed by an abnormally rapid discharge of such material and water therefrom through the member I2 into the hopper I3. This surge is repeated during all the time that the apparatus is functioning at brief intervals.

In the system illustrated, peas or other material emptied into the hopper I I are completely enveloped in water. The water is agitated and aerated. Such agitation and aeration coupled with the contact of the material against the walls. of the pipes I2 and It produces a cleansing efiect comparable to that which is found in washing machines of a modern type. The cleansing effect is many times that which may be obtained by causing the material to fiow unagitatedly through a pipe of the same length as the members I2 or I6,

The pipe I 6 is shown projecting downwardly below the level of fioor I0. Such length adds to the washing effect. It is so illustrated to point out the physics of the apparatus. A lift of material like peas equal to the drop thereof in the conduits I2 and I6 may be obtained by freely aerating the water in the long leg of such members.

The long leg of conduit I2 is about three-sevenths below and four-sevenths above the bottom of hopper II. To lift the water and material in conduit I2, there is generally required a force of air of small magnitude. In conduit I6, threefifths of the long leg is below the level of hopper I3 and two-fifths above such level. F'ree aeration of the water in the long leg of conduit will cause the total weight of the material and water in the long leg to be less than the total weight of material and liquid in the short leg, hence a ready flow of liquid and material to hopper IT. The pulsations of the air pump keep the material and liquid agitated, preventing separating and aiding in the cleansing effect.

Hot water may be used in place of cold. This increases cleansing and tends to blanch. If the water is to be maintained at a high temperature, steam may be used in place of air. Preferably it should be admitted in pulsations or surges. If hot water and steam are used, the device becomes a blancher.

The number of stages of lift is unlimited. It is governed by the height the material is to be carried and the specific cleansing effect desired. One or more stages may be lifting and cleansing with cold water, and one or more higher stages may be blanching. The hopper I3 may be so constructed with the parts shown with a splash shield added that it will effectively prevent water in one stage from mixing with water in a succeeding stage.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States 1. A device of the class described, comprising means forming a hopper adapted to receive a quantity of material in relatively small form, means comprising an elevating conduit having a short leg with its upper end communicating with said hopper and having a long leg extending upwardly above said hopper, means providing a receiver adapted to receive the discharge of said long leg, a conduit connecting the bottom of said receiver with said hopper, means providing a movable foraminous member positioned below the discharge end of said long leg, said receiver having an additional conduit connected to the bottom thereof for forming the short leg of a second elevating conduit, the upper end of said second elevating conduit extending above said receiver and discharging into a second receiver, a separating screen in said second receiver adapted to receive the material discharged from the upper end of said second elevating conduit, a third conduit connecting the bottom of said second receiver with said first receiver, means: for moving said foraminous member whereby to discharge the material deposited thereon. into the receiving end of the shorter leg of said second elevating conduit, means in said first receiver for causing a restricted fiow of liquid from said receiver back into said hopper, and means for discharging gaseous fluid under pressure into the bottom portions of the longer legs of said elevating conduits.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a hopper adapted to receive a quantity of peas or other relatively small objects, means providing an elevating conduit having a long leg and a relatively short leg, the short leg having its upper end connected to said hopper, means for discharging water into said hopper, a receiver positioned below the discharge end of said long leg above said hopper, a pipe connecting said receiver with said hopper, a second elevating conduit comp-rising a short leg and a longer leg, said short leg having its inlet end connected to said receiver, the longer leg extending upwardly above said receiver, a second receiver disposed below the discharge end of said second longer leg, means for connecting said second receiver with said first receiver, means for injecting steam into the bottom portions of each of said longer legs whereby to cause the elevation of the water and the peas from said hopper through the shorter leg and thence into the longer leg of said first elevating conduit into said first receiver, and means for causing the peas discharged into said first receiver to pass into the shorter leg of said second elevating conduit whereby the steam discharged into the bottom of the long leg of said second elevating conduit causes the peas and water therein to flow downwardly through the shorter leg, thence upwardly through the longer leg of said second elevating conduit and thence into said second receiver, the water from said second receiver being separated from said peas and returned to said first receiver, and the water from said first receiver being separated and returned to said hopper, all in a closed circuit.

3. The hereindescribed process of heat treating peas and the like which comp-rises the steps of conveying the peas from a given point in a confined stream of Water along a predetermined course of travel which includes upwardly extending portions, injecting steam into the stream of Water at a plurality of spaced apart zones along the upwardly extending portions of its travel, elevating by the injected steam the water and the peas therein above the given point and simultaneously blanching the peas by the injected steam and the water heated thereby as the peas are forced upwardly.

WILLIAM E. URSCHEL. 

